‘I’m judged on performance - the results will come’: McCann

Grant McCann, right, with assistant manager Cliff Byrne. Picture credit: Hull City

Hull City boss Grant McCann says he is “judged on performance” and won’t change his style of play despite mounting criticism from fans over a poor run of results.

He also said the club’s owners have not questioned him about results because “no one’s overreacting inside this football club”.

The Tigers welcome fourth-placed Coventry City to the MKM Stadium on Saturday with just two wins and nine points from their opening 14 games of the Sky Bet Championship, which has left them at the other end of the table occupying a relegation berth.

At a pre-match press conference today, McCann was asked by Mike White of BBC Radio Humberside: “You said last week and you’ve said in other weeks as well about being here to win football games, but playing a style of play we want - what specifically did you mean by that?”

McCann said: “Just the way we coach, the way we go about things at the training ground.

“We want to play and open and expansive game, that’s the way I’ve been at the football club since I’ve been here. We want to play an attractive style of football.

“We want to create loads of opportunities. We want to have attacking full-backs. We want to have movement and rotation in midfield. We want to have centre-backs who are comfortable on the ball, a goalkeeper who’s comfortable on the ball. And I think we’ve got that.”

White then asked: “But if playing that way, and playing the right way as you see it, isn’t working in terms of the end result … in terms of results, which is ultimately what everyone is judged on, don’t you then have to change how you play if that’s not producing those end results?”

“No,” McCann said. “Because I’ll be judged on performance. Yes, I know from the outside looking in people might think he’ll be judged on results; yes I want to win, I’m one of the biggest winners you’ll ever come across.

“I‘m big on performance and we’re big on performance at this football club. We know that the more we perform, the more we continue to work on the processes and the way we want to play, things will change. And that’s the way we’ll approach every game.”

On the question of results, White asked: “You say you’ll be judged on that from the outside looking in, so from internally then, are you not going to be judged on that at all, is that not a question that the owners are asking you, if the results aren’t there?”

McCann said: “No, because no one’s overreacting inside this football club. You know, the media can make their own stories and stuff like that in terms of how they see it, and the fans will make their judgement on that; that’s fine, I understand that, that’s the way football works.

“But we’re judged on making sure that we produce football players. W’re judged on making sure players are developing, which they certainly are, and we’re judged on making sure the team’s playing an attractive style of football, an attractive brand.

“Ultimately, yes, to win, but it might take a bit longer than we’re probably seeing at this present time.”

It was suggested the City boss “cut a bit of a forlorn and frustrated figure” after the 1-0 defeat at Luton last week.

Asked how he was dealing with things, McCann said: “I’m fine. I’m fine. People will say what they want to say, Mike, that’s just the way it is. People will say these things, but I feel fine. I feel good.

“I know I’ve got a really good group, and I know I’ve got a really good changing room. You know, we are as one in here. We’ve got a very good staff. We’re all working very hard to try and improve on things as we see it at this present time, and we’ll continue to do that.”

At last week’s pre-match press conference, the Tigers manager revealed his teenage son had been targeted on social media, which he described as “ridiculous”. The abuse was widely condemned after this was reported.

City have no fresh injury concerns. Brandon Fleming is “on the road to recovery” and fellow defender Alfie Jones took part in a “modified” training session today but is considered too much of a risk to play on Saturday, McCann said.